


Breaks In The Walls

by paintedbluerose



Series: Lee Thinks You’re Cute [3]
Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Brainwashing, Gen, Hurt Zuko (Avatar), Implied/Referenced Brainwashing, Lee thinks you’re cute, Long Feng is a dick, Past Brainwashing, Protective Katara (Avatar), Zuko (Avatar) whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-20
Updated: 2020-11-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 01:27:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27645473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/paintedbluerose/pseuds/paintedbluerose
Summary: Katara tries to heal a brainwashed Zuko with mixed results. Lee (Zuko) just wants a nap. Long Feng is not happy with anyone.
Relationships: Aang & Toph Beifong & Iroh & Katara & Sokka & Zuko, Dai Li & Zuko, Iroh & Zuko (Avatar), Long Feng & Zuko
Series: Lee Thinks You’re Cute [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2001100
Comments: 9
Kudos: 132





	Breaks In The Walls

**Author's Note:**

> So... another part. No flirting from Zuko. A bit of happiness, sort of, for Zuko to somewhat get a little back. But, uh... next one in the series won’t be fun. Just saying.

Lee was starting to get a little bored. He had been sitting at the table forever. Okay maybe not forever forever, but it felt like it. He thought about listening in on their conversation but decided against it. That would be wrong.

He had a sudden memory of spying on someone and it ended bad for him. There was yelling and fire. He couldn’t remember much else. Was that where his scar came from? Probably. Eavesdropping was bad. He should avoid it.

Lee decided he would walk around to entertain himself. The house didn’t seem like it was theirs as it didn’t seem like anything personal was in it. Simple table and chairs, simple cushions for seating, simple furniture. It was nice. He felt like they would have liked to have furs around and wondered where that came from. Why would anyone need furs in Ba Sing Se?

There was a pile of cushions and pillows in a side room. Next to the cushions were some missing bison posters and what looked like a horrible artistic version of said bison crumbled up. If Lee drew that, he’d want to crumble it up too. Seeing the cushions so comfy looking and so bored from waiting all day, Lee decided to lay down and rest. Just a little bit. A few minutes wouldn’t be too bad. Nothing bad would happen.

~~~~

Long Feng was not having a good day. The bison he carefully hidden away from the Avatar was stolen though Long Feng ended up with Prince Zuko. Long Feng wished he still had the bison but having a brainwashed Fire Prince could work to his advantage. Or it would have had the Prince stayed in his room.

The Avatar and friends stormed Lake Laogai and now the Prince was gone. Which meant the Avatar stole his precious prisoner. Not to mention their location was compromised.

“Have agents follow the Avatar. If our... guest is with them, keep an eye on him. If possible, find a way to get him away from them.” He started speaking to the agents behind him. He didn’t know any names nor did he care to. There would be agents around him to do his bidding. “Move the equipment to the secondary location under the Palace by nightfall. Destroy everything else.”

Long Feng walked away after his order was given. He knew they would follow his orders. Lake Laogai would be destroyed and within three days, he would have the Prince back in his control. The Avatar would regret stealing what was his.

~~~~

Sokka was feeling more optimistic. Sure having a brainwashed Prince in their group was not fun, but Appa was free. And maybe after Katara fixed him, he’d want to stay in their group and teach Aang firebending. It could work.

When they busted down the doors to the Palace, Sokka wasn’t sure what would happen. He expected Long Feng to be by the King ready to attack. He wasn’t there. Sokka wondered if it had anything to do with Zuko. 

King Kuei hesitated in hearing about the war because he had been so sheltered. Sokka knew of two places to show King Kuei the truth of the war-Lake Laogai and the wall that was breached. If they went to Lake Laogai there was a chance of seeing Long Feng, which would complicate things. So Sokka suggested they all hop on Appa and fly to the outer ring.

Seeing the truth of the war in front of him, King Kuei agreed to help them. He also sent for Long Feng to be questioned. Instead of making them wait a long time, they all agreed to met the next morning to start on a plan.

All in all, Sokka felt that things went pretty smoothly. Hopefully Long Feng would not ruin what they accomplished with King Kuei. 

When they arrived back at home he expected things to be just as great with Katara and her healing. He hadn’t expected her to be crying in the kitchen with Iroh.

“Katara? What’s wrong?” He asked, going into his protective older brother mode.

“It’s Zuko. I can’t figure out how to heal him. It’s like there’s a wall around his mind that won’t let me in.” 

“It seems the Dai Li were very thorough with my Nephew. Much more than a normal brainwashing, like your friend Miss Katara was telling me about.” Iroh sighed.

“You think they know who he is?” Sokka asked.

“I think it’s possible.”

“If they know who Sparky is, then they know who you are.” Toph frowned. “They would have taken you. Or had you watched. They haven’t yet.”

“Unless their plan only involves Zuko.” Sokka sighed, frustrated. The Dai Li made no sense. Iroh was the one who laid siege to the city, not Zuko. Iroh should have been watched at least. Zuko would have told them where he worked and lived under the influence even if Dai Li didn’t know. So why hadn’t they moved on Iroh?

“Speaking of Zuko, where is he?” Aang asked, looking around.

“He should be at the table. That’s where we left him.” Katara said as she walked towards the table with no Zuko. “Well, he was here.”

It wasn’t long before they found Zuko curled up in the cushions, sleeping. (They could have found him sooner and caused less panic had Toph felt where he was but she refused.) He almost looked peaceful. A complete opposite of how he was when hunting them.

“He’s been through a lot recently.” Iroh bent down and ran his fingers through his hair. “It seems while the Dai Li took so much from him, they left him with a restful sleep.”

Sokka did not want to think about that depressing statement. The only way for a peaceful rest was for him to be brainwashed? That was not comforting at all. 

And it seemed untrue as Zuko changed in his sleep. He seemed tense, as if fighting a nightmare. “No, please, no.” Zuko whispered.

“I think you spoke too soon Iroh.” Sokka said and regretted it as soon as he saw Iroh’s expression.

“No, stop!” Zuko continued to cry out. “Please!”

“What do you think Sparky is dreaming about?”

Before anyone could answer Toph’s question, Zuko cried out. “No! Let me go! You can’t do this. Long Feng stop!”

“He must be remembering the brainwashing. Katara, quick, try to heal him!”

~~~~

Katara rushed to start healing Zuko once Sokka spoke. If Zuko was in the middle of remembering the brainwashing, she might be able to start. This time, when she went in, the wall was not so stable. There were cracks around and she pushed all she could into this cracks. Holes were forming, part of the walls were breaking apart. It still seemed a long way off, but she could feel improvement. His nightmare must have started a break.

As a test, she pulled back some in her healing to see what would happen. The walls were not building themselves back up. The chips were still there. It was working.

Before she could go back and heal more, Zuko sat up screaming. She hoped it was from the nightmare and not what she was doing. Though it could have been a combination of getting some of his memories back along with the nightmare. Perhaps it was best if she didn’t rush things.

“Nephew? Are you okay?”

“Uncle...?” 

“What do you remember?”

Zuko blinked a couple times. “I was in Lake Laogai. There was something white I found. I let it go but they weren’t happy.” He rubbed his head. “I’m sorry, my head hurts.”

“It’s okay. Do you know who these people are with me?” 

“Uh... friends of yours?” Zuko shrugged. “I think she’s a waterbender.” He pointed at Katara. “I feel like we fought once. In the snow. I hurt you. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. I got you back.” She smiled. “Do you remember your name?”

“I don’t know. I feel like Lee and Zuko are both my names. I can’t tell which seems right.” 

“It’s okay, you remembered something.” Katara looked at Iroh. “It’s slowly breaking.”

Iroh smiled in relief. “That’s good. That’s very good.”

~~~~

Long Feng stood in front of King Kuei annoyed. The stupid kids had to run to the fool King and tell him about the war. The war Long Feng specifically had not mentioned to Kuei. Now he had to think of a way to use this to his advantage.

“Your Majesty, I was merely doing what was best according to this before me. I was instructed by your father not to let you know of the war, to protect you. I apologize that I have misled you.” Long Feng lied. No one instructed him to do anything. Long Feng wanted power. He could control Ba Sing Se if he controlled the King. He could control the King by lying to him. 

“I don’t like being lied to Long Feng. You made me look like a fool.”

“My apologies. It was not my intention. I was merely trying to protect you.”

“I should have you arrested and stand trial for what you did. However, I’m going to be more lenient. During the Avatar’s stay, you are not permitted to enter the Palace or work as my advisor. After he leaves, we will discuss what happens next, depending on your behavior.”

“Thank you Your Majesty for your mercy.” Long Feng bowed and exited the Palace. He was not happy in the slightest. The Avatar was ruining everything.

“Sir, we found our guest with the Avatar.” One of the agents following Long Feng said. “It seems the waterbender has been trying to heal him.”

“It seems we need to end it before she gets too far.” Long Feng smirked. “Tomorrow, before they see the King, tell them we found documents addressed to all of them they should see. Make sure they bring him.”

“Yes sir.” 

Long Feng felt his luck was looking up. All he needed was a Fire Prince.

**Author's Note:**

> If it seems odd about Kuei and Long Feng, I’m going with no one mentioned Long Feng, just the war. No brainwashing either. Kuei not happy but Long Feng lied enough to make it seem like it wasn’t his idea. He was looking out for the King. Still not the best but Kuei is also not swayed by group saying he’s evil!
> 
> But like I mentioned earlier, next is not gonna be pleasant. Like y’all don’t even know!


End file.
